Morning Cup of Mate (Mah' - tay)

I am a tea fanatic.  I have a cabinet full of teapots and cups, a cabinet of loose tea and  a chest full of tea bags.  Mostly I use loose tea as tea bags do not have sufficient room for leaves to unfurl....in fact tea bags just hold "tea-dust" or particles of leaves.  But there are some nice flavors available.  I like STASH TEA (https://www.stashtea.com )  because they give you the options for--i believe-- all their teas to buy either loose or in tea bags.  My favorite Black Tea is made by them called "Christmas Morning".  Never mind Christmas, I drink it year round.

I have quit drinking coffee every morning.  My coffee maker quit working.  And I bought Walmart brand's K-Cup coffee maker, which worked for less than a month.  My husband is now a great coffee connoisseur and at his recommendation, I didn't replace the coffee maker but instead got a coffee "dripper" to make pour-over coffee.  And I ran out of ground coffee so now had to grind beans as well.  And the water  has to be a certain temperature....etc etc.  No, altogether too much fuss and then thing was: I did not even like the coffee that much.

So I began to drink tea in the AM.  Not just any tea: MATE....which is  a tea from Latin America, especially from  Argentina but enjoyed by many countries in S.. America.  This tea has it's own "protocol" also.  You put about a a tbsp. of loose tea in a cup  (In S. Am. they put the tea in  a hollowed out dried, gourd, some of which are painted or glazed to be quite beautiful)...I cover that in honey, and add a drop of light cream....then pour in the water  185*....and stir it a bit...then let it steep. There is a thing called a bombilla which is like a metal straw with a filter on the bottom (there are many types, some very beautiful bombillas) and when the  tea is cool enough to sip you drink from the straw without removing the loose tea leaves.  It has  a bitter-ish taste, even with the honey and cream....reminiscent of  coffee and it also contains, for tea, a high bit of caffeine (about equal to half a mug of coffee). I have several bombillas but I do not have a gourd. I  use a double-walled 18 oz. glass mug which retains heat very well.

This tea has some nice effects. 1) It gives you a bit of energy without jitters and without a "crash" 
2) It tastes lovely and invigorating 3) It reduces your appetite.  4) I aids in proper digestion (ie: reduces constipation and encourages regular BMs.

I have been trying out various versions of Mate but find that I like it "straight up" (dried leaves only, no roasting, no smoking, no stems or dust)  I buy it by the Kilo online..  

I have also been continuing my passion for Pu-reh' (pronounced Pooh-Air) tea from a province in China where tea is grown, dried and fermented and pressed into cakes of various shapes.  It is then aged.  usually you can find it for 5 years old or less.  The block of it that I'm drinking now is 30 years old.  And I actually found a block of it from 1962 (the year I was born, so it had to be good!). I haven't tried that one yet. (https://www.teavivre.com/info/brew-an-enjoyable-pu-erh-tea.html) You also need a special Pu-erh needle or knife to break apart the leaves that were compressed into the blocks. These can be purchased for very low prices on eBay.

And of late I am exploring Oolong tea.  I am avoiding however certain varieties of Oolong that are named after Buddhist goddesses.  I am reminded of Paul's injunction to the early Gentile converts to what was then, mostly a Jewish group of followers called "The Way" or "Christians"....he told them to avoid food that had been offered to idols.  You can take that or leave it....but my conscience bothered me when I discovered I was drinking a tea dedicated to a goddess.

 Other than Stashtea.com, I also enjoy Fusion Tea Company:  https://www.fusionteas.com/
and Adagio teas ( https://www.adagio.com/ ) who has some delicious ice teas...contained loose tea in a silk bag so all you have to do is toss it in the water---either hot or cold water---and let it sit until it is the strength you like

 I know that this topic is a diversion from my usual blog posts...usually on Faith or mental illness or chronic pain...but this blog is about me generally...so this collection/interest of mine is another piece of the puzzle that is me.  I hope you have enjoyed it and I hope that you will maybe experiment with some tea brewing.